Furnace for burning culm and other fine fuel



(No Model.)

F. E. FAHRIG.

FURNACE FOR BURNING OULM AND OTHER FINE FUEL. No, 289,400. Patented Dec. 4, 1883.

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UN rn ATE-NT FRANK FAHRIG, or sonANroN, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,400,

dated December 4, 1883.

Application filed May 17., 1883. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK E. FAHRIG, of Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Furnace for Burning Oulm and other Fine Fuel; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

The figure is a longitudinal sectional view of a culnrburning furnace constructed in accordance with my invention.

In the ordinary furnaces for burning culm and other fine fuel the openings between the grate-bars or in the fuel-supporting surface are necessarily made small to prevent the fuel fromfalling unconsumed into the ash-pit below, and in order to effect the proper combustion of the fuel upon grate-surfaces so constructed, it is customary to inject a blast of steam and air into the ash-pitbelow the grate. While the steam and air blast is in operation, it is necessary, in order to prevent the escape of the same into the boiler-room, that the door covering the entrance to the ash-pit be tightly closed. As a consequence of this construction, when it is desired to remove the accumulation of ashes in the ash-pit, it is essential that the steam and air blast be cut off, so that the door to the ash-pit can be opened, and the ashescan be removed without loss of steam and without inconvenience to the operator. The shutting off of the blast, however, is ob jectionable, as it retards combustion and permits the fire to go down.

The object of my invention is therefore to eifectthe removal of the accumulation of ashes without cutting off the steam and air blast, and without permitting the loss of steam by escape into the boiler-room, and without inconvenience to the fireman by reasonof the I steam. This object I attain by producing surfaces for the support of the accumulated ashes located between the fuel'supporting surfaces,

and the ash-pit proper, and in introducing the steam and air blast between the surfaces supporting the ashes and the fuel-supporting surfaces, means being provided for discharging the ashes from their supporting-surfaces into the ash-pit below, and the whole construction ing of culm or other fine fuel.

being such as to prevent the access of steam from the steam and air blast into the ash-pit, except at the time when the ashes are being inentarily, all substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A A represent the walls of the furnace; B, the gratebars or fuelsupports arranged after the manner of ordinary furnaces adapted to the burn- The space beneath the fuel-supporting surface is divided into two compartments by means of movable sections 0 O O, which, whenclosed together, form a partition extending from end to end of the space, and constitute a support for the ashes which fall from the fire. The said sections G each preferably consists of a plate having either a straight curved, or corrugated upper surface, and provided with trunnions 0 at its ends, by means of which it is sustained in the opposite walls of the furnace, so as to enable it to be rocked or tilted. One of the edges of the section is preferably provided with a recess or depression, in which is adapted to fit the proximate edge of the next adjacent section, as shown. Upon the lower side of each of the sections 0 an incline, e, is formed and a projection or stop, f. A bar, D, extends longitudinally through the ash-pit and carries upwardly-projecting arms 5 preferably provided with friction rollers h. The bar D is preferably operated by means of a hand-lever, E, as shown.

F represents an opening located between the sections 0 and the grate-bars or fuel-supports, through which the steam and air blast enters. Access is hadto the space below the sections G G O 0 through an opening in the furnace-wall, closed by a door, J.

The raking of the fire may be accomplished by means of any of the ordinary appliances in common use for that purpose. WVhen the lever E is drawn forward into the position shown in full lines, the rollers h, running along the inclines e on the sections 0, cause said sections to assume a horizontal position and form close joints with each other and with the walls of the furnace, so as to prevent the escape of steam, entering through the opening F, into the ash-pit below. Stops I and K, at the front and rear walls of the furnace, respectively,

discharged into the latter, and then only mowhich are operate to prevent the movement of the front and rear sections 0 past a horizontal position when closed. As the fire is raked, the ashes therefrom fall upon the sections 0 O O G, and are sustained thereby until the accumulation becomes sufficient, when, without cutting off the blast and with the door to the ash-pit closed, the lever E is moved quickly inward, as shown in dotted lines, and then quickly returned to its normal position. Upon its inward motion the rollers h on the arms of the bar D pass back along the inclines e and engage with the proj ections f, which are located just to one side of the centers or pivots of the sections, thus causing the sections to be tilted up into the position indicated by the dotted lines, and causing the ashes previously supported by them to be quickly dumped into the ash-pit below. Then the quick outward movement of the lever E causes the sections 0 to be again immediately closed by reason of the engagement of the rollers h with the inclines c on said sections, as before, all communication between the two compartments being thus again shut off. After the ashes have been dumped into the ash-pit, the fireman may open the door leading to the latter, and remove the ashes therefrom conveniently and without the escape or waste of steam, and with out shutting off the steam-blast and retarding the combustion of the fuel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The combination of the grated fuel-supporting surface through which the steam and air blast is required to pass, the rocking ashsupporting sections between the fuel-supporting surface and the ash-pit, forming a partition, the opening or openings for the introduction of steam and air above said rocking sections, and means for operating the sections to dump the accumulated ashes into the ash-pit below, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the grated fuelsupporting surface, of the movable rocking sections having the inclines on their bottoms, and the reciprocating bar and arms for opening and closing said sections, substantially as described.

8. The movable sections, each having the trunnions, the incline on its bottom, and the depression at one edge, in which the edge of the next adjacent section. fits, substantially as described.

F. E. FAHRIG.

\Vitn esscs:

G. F. KLos, VVILLIAM l\L-\.YLIN. 

